Mechanical tray loader



May 31, 1932. P. F. c. WILCKE MECHANICAL TRAY LOADER Filed May 8, l 9293 Sheets-Sheet 1 P MY y 31, 1932- P. F. c. WILCKE 1,860,400

MECHANICAL TRAY LOADER Filed May 8, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 w PauCZUzlclte H Gamma May 31, 1932. P. F. c. WlLCKE MECHANICAL TRAY LOADERFiled 'May 8, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 PauZFCLZ/z'i Patented May, 31, 1932PAUL IE. 0. wILoxE,-or SEATTLE, WASHINGTON MECHANICAL i TRAY; mum

Application filed May 8, 1929. semi No. 361,443.

My invention relates toan improvement inmachinery playing a part incanning and preserving, and is particularly intended to eliminate thelaborious, tedious and expenhand into a tray or likereceiver, prior totheir passing into the retort for processing.

Heretofore, except as my former application' for patent, SerialNo.19OA-18, filed May 11, 1927, patented May 7, 1929, No. 1,711,820,

showed a mechanical aid to loading, trays were loaded by an operator whopicked up each can and placed it in a tray. The trans ing, and to alesser degree the manual placing of'the cans within thetray. However itrequired the constant attention of an operator to direct the individualcans to their 7 proper places. My presentinvention eliminates thenecessity of close attention of the, operator, in that it includes meansfor collecting a number of cans,without attention by the operator,whereupon they are advanced all at one time,;and in the relativepositions they will eventually occupy in the tray. Thus a plurality ofcans may be re- 5 ceived from the feeding or depositing means, andproperly collected, preferably being aligned in rows, and maybethenadvanced as a complete row within the infiuenceof'a a sufficientnumber-of cans to fill atray is grouped in proper position,the entiregroup being then let down into a tray;

It is the primary object of my invention, then, to, provide means of thegeneral character described, wherein the cans are autosive loading ofreceptacles, such as cans, by

shown -m'y invention embodied in a'form grouping means, by which,meanseventually' matically collected in rows, and then advanced, underthe control of the operator, 7 each row pushing forward the rows pre-'Viously collected, until eventually the group fills-a frame positionedimmediately above 5 a tray, whereupon the bottom or platform on whichthe cansrest is withdrawn, permitting the cans to drop, without changeofposition relative to each other, into the tray.

p A further object is thejsimplification of means for collecting andtransferring a small number ofrcans, as a single row, laterally, Whetherassociated with a tray-loading mechanism-or any other type of mechanism.

A further object is the provision'of power driven means for controllingthe various parts, of the tray loader, to relieve the op' erator of thestrain of lifting and moving about heavy parts, and loaded trays, and tospeed up the operation of the device.

- Other objects, and particularly those which pertain inoredirectly tomechanical details of construction, may be understood from a study ofthe attached drawings, of the present specification, and the claimswhich terminate ings, described inthe specification, and as moreparticularly defined by the claims. which terminate the same. p In theaccompanying drawings I have Which'is now preferred by me. v

" Figure 1 is a plan view of my device.

Figure 2is a rear side elevation of the de-' vice.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the device, taken at right angles toFigure 2; I Figure 4 is a detail section, showing parts moving toadvance the cans.

Figure 5 is a section on line 5--5' of Figure 2,,showing a detail of-thecan-receiving and,

collecting mechanism. a

In the retorting or processing of canned goods, particularly cannedfish, trays 9 of strap iron provide receptacles in the nature ofopen-work baskets to receive a large group of cans, the number dependingupon the size. Trays thus loaded with cans are stacked one upon another,and are supported upon skeleton cars 90 running upon tracks 91 into aretort.

According to my invention, cans, generally designated by the letter C,are moved into position on a platform 1, immediately over the positionthey would occupy in the tray 9, and when the entire load is grouped orformed, the platform is withdrawn, to drop the cans into the tray. Thecans are deposited upon the platform from a delivery means, in the mainconsisting of four inclined angle bars 2 (see Figure suitably positionedrelative to one another, as by bands 20, and pivotally connecting at 21to a hanger 22, which is supported by a rope 23 and counterweight 24. Bymeans of the pivotal connection at 21 the angle of the chute members 2will adjust itself to the height of the platform 1, and the connectionto this platform is positively secured by mounting rollers 25 and 26upon the hanger 22, these rollers 25 and 26 embracing a guide rod 30,forming part of the frame, generally designated by the numeral 3, whichsupports the platform 1. The pivot 21 is coaxial with, or coincideswith, the axis of the upper rollers 25, and cans passing singly down thechute 2 are received upon the platform 1, or more correctly speaking,upon a belt 4 moving over the platform, and passing over pulleys 40 and41, which belt is driven continuously to advance the cans to the farside of the platform 1. The chute members 2 may be so arranged as togive the can a quarter turn, that is, to bring it from a rollingposition into position to slide on its end, this being well known in theart.

The frame, generally designated by the numeral 3, in effect defines andcoincides with three of the sides of the tray 9 immediately therebelow.It comprises the supporting members 31, whereon may be journaled therollers 32 which support and carry the platform 1, and supported bybrackets 33 thereabove are the side plates 34 at the sides and forwardend of the frame. These plates 34 correspond with the position of thesides and forward end of the basket or tray 9. The supporting members 31may extend somewhat beyond the rear side of the tray, and to thisextension may be connected supporting ropes 35. Like ropes 36 may beconnected at the forward end of the frame 3. The frame is prevented fromracking and twisting, and guided for vertical movement, by upright postsor stanchions 37, which are embraced by eyes 38carried by the frame 3.Inclined members 39 project downwardly from the members 31, and engagethe sides of the tray 9 to position the tray properly beneath the frame.

To collect the cans which are deposited by the chute 2 upon the platform1, I provide two plates 5 and 50. These plates are so spaced as to forma channel wide enough for one can only, and extending on opposite sidesof the belt 4, so that cans deposited by the chute upon the belt 4running over the platform 1 are carried by the belt between the plates 5and 50 until they are lined u in a row. Now meansare provided to BCvancc these plates, pushing the cans in front of the plate 5 and raisingthe plate 50 out of the way, so that the cans are pushed off of the belt4 laterally, and along the platform 1, pushing in front of them the canswhich have been previously advanced and grouped on the platform over thetray space,,and the plate 50 being so controlled that'it will cleartherow of cans which has been just advanced upon its return to itsnormal position.

A U-frame, consisting of the members 51, pivoted upon the frame 3 at 52,and connected by a cross-bar 53, may be rocked by means of a lever 54,or otherwise. Links or brackets 55 connect the cross-bar 53 with theplate 5. Advanceofthe plate 5 by swinging the lever 54-."over to theright, as seen in Figures 3 and 4, pushes the cans which have been collected and aligned in a row, forward into the space on the platformabove the tray. At this time an angularly disposed end 56 on the plate 5prevents entrance of further cans from the chute 2 into the collectingspace or channel.

The plate 50, which rests upon the platform 1 in advance of the belt, iscarried at the end of links 57,'supported from the brackets 55. Theselinks 57 ride normally upon a cut away edge '58 of the frame 3, but uponthe advance, due to swinging of the lever 54, the links 57 ride up anincline 59 of the frame 3, and the plate 50 is thereby elevated toremove it from in front of the row of cans being advanced on theplatform 1. The cans are advanced sufficiently, so that when the platesmove back to their normal position the plate 50 will clear the top edgesof the cans which have been just advanced. A forwardly directed flange56 opposite the flange 56 serves as a stop to positionthe cans at thisend of the receiving and collecting channel, defined by the plates 5 and50. and lies just inward of the side plate 34 of the frame 3, as may beseen best in Figure 1.

It is believed that the operation of the device will now be clear. Fromthe chute 2 cans aredeposited upon the platform 1, or upon the belt 4which is simply a means of advancing them to the far end of the channelformed between the plates 5 and 50. As soon as enough cansto complete arow have collected in this channel, the operator swings the lever 54over, advancing the row of cans, and then returning parts to the normalposition ready to receive a new row of cans. The cans as they advanceare grouped by the side plates 34 of the'frame, and push ahead of themthe rows offcans previously advanced from the collecting channel.Whenthe entire space on the platform above a tray 9, or so much thereofas the operator considers suiiicient, has

' been filled with cans, theplatform is withdrawn laterally from beneaththe cans. A pinion 11 on a shaft meshing with a rack 10 secured beneaththe platform 1 is shown as the means for accomplishing this movement 'pof the platform. Rollers 13, engaging the upper face of the platformimmediately above the shaft12, serve to hold the platform down upon therollers-32 of the frame, by means of which it is supported. The cans nowdrop over the edge of the platform 1 into the tray immediatelytherebelow,without disturbance of their positions relative to oneanother. When a tray has been thus loaded, the entire device may belifted, another tray positioned on the tops of the cans in the tray justloaded, and the device dropped, the members 39 engaging the sides of thetray and properly positioning it, whereupon the platform is run out overthe new tray, andcans are againcollected and advanced to be grouped, asbefore. Preferably, owing to the heavyweights and considerableresistance of the parts, power.

means are provided for doing the heavy work .of lifting the device andremoving the plat-' 2 3 form. Thus, a shaft 6 overhead may carry drumsand 61, over which the supporting ropes and 36 are wound in oppositedirections, and a clutch (not shown) provides for application of powerto this winding or reeling mechanism to lift the entire device, at suchtimes as this is required. The stanchions 37 guide the device, andretain it in proper position relative to the car 90. For driving thepulley 41 a vertical shaft 42 may be employed, this havinga featherconnection with a bevel gear 43, meshing with a gear 44 on the shaftthat carries the pulley 41. The feather connection'of the pinion43 toits shaft permits the pinion to slide vertically,

as the entire device is lifted or lowered. The

shaft carrying the pinion 44 and the pullev 41 may be supported from theprojecting ends of the transverse guides 30, as is best seen inFigure 1. Similarly, power means may be employed to withdraw theplatform 1, and for this purpose a vertical shaft 14 may be employed,this carrying a pinion 1 5, which is slidable along the shaft 14, andwhich meshes with a gear 16 upon the cross shaft 12 which carries thepinions 11. Obviously, these operations might be done by hand, but Iprefer the power means, and these two additional vertical shafts 14 and42 serve an additional purpose in steadying the rear end of. themachine,

being supported in thrust bearings 17 for this 7 purpose. V

What I claim as my invention is z 1. In a tray loader, incombination, afram defining three sides of a rectangle, means for aligning said framewith three sides of a tray, positioned therebelow, to be loaded,"a-,platform adapted to be positioned beneath said frame and above the tray,said frame having guides permitting lateralwithdrawal of the platform,and means for depositing individual cans upon said platform, and a airof spaced plates located without the confines of the tray and above theplatform posited, means for advancing said plates to advancethecollected cans over the platform into the space above the tray, andmeans for withdrawing the platform in a direction opthus grouped withinthe frame to drop into the tray therebelow the forward plate engagf ingthe cans to retain them in advanced position while said platform isbeing withdrawn.

2. In a tray loader, in combination, a frame, means for supporting theframe above the tray means guiding said frame for vertical movement, aplatform supported in' said frame, means for delivering can-s thereupon,

means for aligning the'individual cans in rows, and means for producingrelative lateral movement of. the platform and cans supported thereon todrop the cans into a tray tioned therebelow.

4.v In a tray loader, in combination, a frame, a platform supported insaid frame for transverse movement, means for supporting the frame atdifierent levels,:verti cal guide means for said frame comprisingvertical shafts, one of which is power-driven,means including atransverse'belt for delivering cans upon said platform, means foraligning the individual 120.

cans in rows, means for withdrawing said platform laterally from underthe cans, thereby allowing the cans to drop into a'tray positioned belowthe platform, and means driven from said driven shaftfor advancing saidbelt.

5. In a tray loader, in combination, a platform, means for depositingindividual cans on end upon said platform, spaced front and rear guideplates receiving the cans thus deposited to align them inarow, a link,pivfor collecting a plurality of cans thus de- 59 posite the cansadvance, to permit the cans '3 thereon to drop the cans into a traypost, I

otnlly connecting said front and rear guide plates, means connectivelysecured to the rear plate for shifting, the two plates laterally toadvance the row of cans, thereover, and

cam means fixedly positioned in advance of the front plate and directlyengaged by said link to lift it and said forward plate during suchadvance, to permit the cans to move beneath it, and be advanced to alocation where the forward or raised plate will clear them owl

